ASK TOM WHY

Tom SkillingCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Dear Tom,

Has the Chicago area ever experienced a January tornado before last Monday?

Rich Pokorski Morton Grove, Ill.

Dear Rich,

Last Monday's EF-3 tornado that carved out a 13 mile long damage path northwest of Chicago from Poplar Grove to north of Harvard was indeed a rare event. January tornadoes do occur in the South, especially in the Gulf States and on occasion strike in southern Illinois. However one has never been documented as far north as the Chicago metropolitan area. The closest that a January tornado had come to this area was an F2 twister that hit Momence in Kankakee County on January 25, 1950. That was a similarly, unseasonably warm day with the Chicago area recording its all-time high temperature for the month of January, a balmy 67 (degrees), two degrees warmer than last Monday's 65 (degrees) record high.

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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.